Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met with representatives of major employers in Armenia in the format of a working breakfast.

Welcoming those present, the Prime Minister noted that representatives of the companies that created the most jobs in Armenia were invited to the meeting and thanked them for that. According to Nikol Pashinyan, since 2018, these companies have been mainly responsive and continue to be responsive to the Government's policies, and 288,000 jobs have been created in Armenia since 2018. “But it is obvious that we did not create these jobs, it was you who created them, of course, the Government's policies contributed and shaped a certain environment. We have included in our pre-election program the issue of creating at least 25,000 jobs annually, which is very important,” the Prime Minister said, attaching importance to the continuity of this dynamic.

Next, the Prime Minister touched upon the introduction of artificial intelligence into the economy, which also poses risks, including those related to jobs. Nikol Pashinyan emphasized the importance of conducting analytical and practical work in this direction in order to avoid possible problems. “We need to understand what we have to do, in what directions we need to cooperate in order to ensure the correct transformation of the labor market,” the Prime Minister said.

Nikol Pashinyan added that the Government has spent billions of drams in recent years to ensure the modernity and reproductiveness of the economy. In particular, the Prime Minister mentioned the Economic Modernization Program, which has played a significant role in ensuring economic dynamics. The Prime Minister recalled that from 2018 to the present, despite the 2020 coronavirus pandemic and the war, an average of 7% economic growth has been achieved in Armenia. In this context, the Prime Minister thanked businessmen for contributing to economic growth.

Next, the Prime Minister spoke about universal health insurance, salary rates for employed persons, and the opportunities to increase the number of users of the system through them. According to Nikol Pashinyan, the system has been successfully launched and employers play a very central role in this regard.

Touching upon the promotion of job creation, the Prime Minister also spoke about the Government's social policy, according to which an able-bodied person should ensure his livelihood and well-being through work. "The processes will follow the following logic: we will accompany a person on the path to finding a job. That is, a mandatory condition has been included in the insecurity assessment system: at some point we must offer a person a job that has a specific address and salary, and if that job offer does not receive a response 3 times, we will proceed from the assumption that he has income, because if a person does not have income, why would he refuse to work? But of course, in the context of all this, the most important thing is education and educational transformation, so that we can support people in this matter," the Prime Minister said.

Nikol Pashinyan stressed that we are now entering a completely new phase of economic development, which is of course connected with the peace process established between Armenia and Azerbaijan. “We are expecting major events in the near future, which are connected, first of all, with the launch of the TRIPP project, which is essential in that it will finally completely remove the Republic of Armenia from the blockade. But, in fact, today Armenia has overcome the blockade, because you know that it is possible to carry out rail freight transportation to Armenia through the territory of Azerbaijan and it is being carried out, but I also want to say that exports are also possible by rail, of course through the territory of Georgia, while we will first open the railway with Azerbaijan within the framework of the TRIPP project. This is very important and the political agreement is that this railway will never be closed. In other words, it is a reliable route for both import and export,” the Prime Minister said.

Summing up, the Prime Minister noted that since 2018, according to real estimates, Armenia's gross domestic product has grown by 53% and our country's economy has reached a point where business-business, state-business, state-employee, and employee-employer relations must develop in a new way. In this regard, the Prime Minister emphasized the importance of today's meeting to discuss such issues and listen to the considerations of businessmen.

"Once again, I want to thank all of you for these changes that have taken place in our country, because there are sectors and companies whose role in the Republic of Armenia is difficult to overestimate. It is very important that these companies also bring a new mentality, a new thinking, a new culture to the Republic of Armenia, which is actually the most important capital, opening up new horizones for new sectors of activity, new fields. I believe that the Republic of Armenia today has horizons before it that it has never had in its history. Armenia has never had such an unprecedented period of opportunities in its history. We need to be able to use this situation continuously, constantly. It is obvious that the Government cannot do this without those who play a key role in the economy and the real sector of the economy, and in addition to expressing gratitude today, I want to draw everyone's attention to this reality, this is, in fact, my main message," said Nikol Pashinyan.

Next, a number of issues related to the steps taken by the Government towards economic development, the tools being introduced, the continuous improvement of the investment field, the expansion of existing opportunities, as well as the solution of problems were discussed.